Dan's Papers - January 11, 2008

They come in 30 different flavors, they melt in your mouth, and a recipe from New Orleans made them famous. When people take a bite out of them, they have been known to say, "Holy Moses," which is part of how Holey Moses Cheesecake of Westhampton got its name.

Since this company started in 1988 in a large space at Gabreski Airport, it eventually grew in popularity until it was finally sold four years ago to Hank Tucker and his wife Patty, who recently moved the new headquarters over a few hundred yards at the airport to an area next door to where Belle's Café used to be.

"Although we bought the business and wanted to start fresh with our new location, we decided to keep the name, since all our cheesecakes have a signature hole in the middle of them," said Tucker, 47, who grew up in Brooklyn and Nassau County. He said one of the original owners lived on Moses Lane in the Hamptons, which also played into the choice of name.

But Holey Moses Cheesecake also got its name because a parish priest's housekeeper created the original recipe, and when she died she willed her recipe to the priest.

"About twenty years ago, this priest brought the award-winning recipe to the East End," said Tucker. "They started making these cheesecakes in the back of the former Hansom House in Southampton. In the late 1980s, as they grew in popularity, the small business moved over to an old Army barracks at Gabreski Airport.

Tucker, who was previously in the computer business, moved to Westhampton eleven years ago, and was looking for something new to do.

"It was at this time that I first ate a piece of Holey Moses Cheesecake, and I loved it, but then I forgot about it," he recalled. "Then, awhile later, I saw an ad in the newspaper about the Holey Moses bakery being for sale, and I called the partners, Chris Weber and Kurt Hauquist, just to talk. Being in sales and marketing for most of my career, I felt I could do something with this premium product."

Mr. Tucker and his wife Patty bought the business and recipes in July, 2004 for the famous cheesecakes in different flavors including Oreo cookie, key lime, chocolate mousse, Bailey's Irish Creme, lemon, White Russian, chocolate marble and chocolate chip, black forest, cappuccino, Heath Bar crunch, pumpkin and Snickers.

The Holey Moses Cheesecakes also come in many fruit-topped varieties, including raspberry almond, strawberry, blueberry, pineapple, cherry and even sugar-free and low-carb for diabetics and dieters.

"All these cheesecakes are made in the same original style with a hole in the middle from being baked in angel food tube pans, which bake more evenly, and is a secret of their success," explained Tucker, who admits he is passionate about desserts. "But the original Holey Moses Cheesecake is the plain, creamy kind."

And at his new business, he also sells about 30 different kinds of pies, including the most famous, a hand-squeezed key lime pie created by his wife. Their four children also help out with the business by tasting and making the boxes.

The Tuckers sell and distribute these assorted pies, as well as other desserts they don't make themselves such as tiramisu, mousse cakes and loaf cakes, which are made in commercial bakeries in the Metro area.

"We mostly distribute our desserts to restaurants, country clubs, farm stands, fish markets, delis and butchers, from Montauk to Manhattan," said Tucker. "We also participate in many of fundraisers at schools and churches."

Holey Moses Cheesecake also has a big mail order business, shipping cheesecakes around the country. The public can also walk into their new factory and buy the desserts off the shelves, with prices ranging from $27 for a six-pound cheesecake, $15 for a two and a quarter pound cheesecake, $18 for a key lime pie and $14 for a fruit pie.

Mr. Tucker said his company is hoping to also make small individual cheesecakes since "the way of the world is to go bite-size."

He said his biggest challenge was jumping in and taking a risk in buying this business at its former location, with the airport being in flux over its changeover to an industrial park.

"The former owners were afraid of moving, but I figured if I had to, it would be a fresh start," said Tucker. "I took a chance, and the County found us another space after they demolished the old building." He added that they also moved into their 2,100-square-foot space right before Thanksgiving, which was their busiest time of the year, and have since added automation and technology.

"We're finally at a good point now where we're starting to branch out in new directions and plan our growth strategy," said Tucker, who also noted that his company had been on the Food Network nine times so far.